Common Jellyfish (also called Moon Jellyfish), Aurelia aurita,which
do not sting humans. The threadlike tentacles around the edge of the bell
can sting, and may occasionally catch small swimming animals for food,
but their stings - like minute harpoons fired by springs - are not powerful
enough to pierce our thick skin. They feed mostly by trapping microscopic
plankton in a film of mucus which flows over the surface of the bell and
is picked off as it reaches the edges by the thick mouth tentacles underneath.
They swim by pulsing the bell, pushing themselves slowly forwards through
the water.

Inside the top of the bell you can see four rounded pinkish masses,
which are the gonads.

In October or November the jellyfish will breed, releasing tiny swimming
embryos into the water, and the adults then probably die as the water gets
colder. The embryos attach themselves to fixed structures, and it would
be well worth looking for them on the piles of piers, although they are
only 1 or 2 cm long. They look a bit like tiny sea anemones for a long
time, and feed and grow like this for a year, hanging downwards from a
support. In their second winter they lose their tentacles, and their bodies
elongate and gradually divide crosswise into a stack of little discs. Eventually
these break free one by one and swim away to grow into tiny jellyfish.

Although jellyfish can swim slowly, they are largely at the mercy of the
tides and currents, and at times large numbers are concentrated into bays,
and may be stranded on beaches. The most spectacular swarms are seen in
late summer when they are at their largest.

May 1999Moon Jellyfish, Aurelia
aurita, swarming in hundreds (possibly totalling over a thousand) in
Shoreham
Harbour, Sussex. This jellyfish is common and widespread throughout
the oceans of the world and is common all around the coast of Britain.
It would not deserve a special comment if they had been recorded regularly
at this location before - they had been for about 4 years, but not in so
many numbers. The largest specimens reached 125 mm in diameter and the
pink gonads were visible in some specimens. It seems a good year of all
species of jellyfish around Britain with records of the venomous Lions'
Mane Jellyfish, Cyanea capillata from Scotland in larger numbers
this year.

The best viewing area is the piece of waste land opposite where the
old Gas Works used to be and to the east on the other side of the
canal to where the new Natural Gas Power Station is being built.

Richard Huggett reports
thousands from off Eastbourne, 20 miles to the east up the English Channel,
so the swarms must occur all along the English Channel. It seems a good
year (1999) of all species of jellyfish around Britain with records of
the venomous Lions' Mane Jellyfish, Cyanea capillata from Scotland
in larger numbers this year.

By
25 July 1999, the jellyfish seemed to have disappeared in Shoreham
Harbour. AH.

On 14 July 1999,
Averil Brond
reported many Moon Jellyfish from the strandline Padstow (SW 9177), Cornwall.
They were stranded from the last week in June 1999 to the second week in
July. Around 22 July 1999 hundreds were stranded at Mother Ivey’s Bay (SW
8676) , reported by Mrs V C Tummon.from Seaquest
SW (Cornwall Wildlife Trust web pages).

August 2002 (beginning)The large and dense mass of Moon Jellyfish
in Loch Nevis (Scotland) was particularly outstanding. The enhanced photograph
(right) gives some idea of the density. The congregation of jellyfish measured
12 metres by 3 metres and at least a metre thick.

6 June 2004An extraordinary raft of Moon
Jellyfish,
Aurelia aurita, was
seen eight miles (13 km) off the coast of north-west Wales, off the Lleyn
peninsula at the north of Cardigan Bay. The Moon
Jellyfish had somehow contrived to wedge themselves
together into a continuous raft of eight metres square, each of the tens
of thousands of jellyfish about 10 cm in diameter, each wedged several
deep in one large teeming mass, each jellyfish "pulsing down" in the glassy
dead calm sea between two headlands. This unusual congregation has been
reported once before in the enclosed Scottish Loch Nevis,
but has not been recorded before in the open sea.

Report by Barry Pugh

Aggregations (Smacks, or drifts, or swarms
etc.) of Jellyfish

The reason that they occur in aggregations is not intentional but purely
a factor of their planktonic lifestyle. Where feeding conditions
are good the sessile asexual reproductive phase, the polyp will thrive,
and all come to maturity at much the same time. This may lead to
an almost synchronous release of the young jellyfish or ephyrae.
If these find suitable food they will grow and all the youngsters from
one area will drift around together as dictated by the currents and influenced
by the winds. The only way a jellyfish could "decide" where it was
going would be by moving up or down in the water column and finding itself
in a water body moving in a different direction.
Doug Herdson

The Portuguese
Man o'War, Physalia physalis, and the By-the-wind
Sailor, Velella velella, (Pic)
are two jellyfish-type animals found on south-western coasts of Britain
in some years. They are, technically, colonial hydrozoans, Physalia
is in the Order Siphonophora, Velella is in the Order Athecata;
of the Class Hydrozoa.

17
August 2008Nine
potentially Portuguese Man-o'-War, Physalia
physalis, were washed up on the West Sussex coast. The creatures,
which can give a nasty sting, were found on beaches at Bracklesham
Bay, East Wittering, West Wittering and Selsey.

4
August 2008I
discovered a Portuguese Man-o'-War, Physalia
physalis, on Southsea
seafront, Portsmouth, to the east of the pier. This particular one was
transparent rather than the distinctive blue colour and was only identified
by its shape and form. The sting on the
palm of my hand was mild but persistent and still felt ten days afterwards.

Portuguese
Man-o'-War are a jellyfish type type of colonial
hydroid that are washed up on western shores and sometimes on the English
Channel coast in small numbers in some (less than half) years.A
Portuguese Man-o'-War was also washed up at Smuggler's
Cove, Holcombe, near Teignmouth, in south Devon.

12 October 2008I found a small Portuguese Man-o'-War,
Physalia
physalis, washed up on Cape
Cornwall, west Cornwall.

Two Portuguese Man-o'-War, Physalia
physalis, were both discovered on the same beach (Lohar, Waterville,
Co. Kerry Ireland) but one was down at the low tide
and the other was much higher up. They were both about 10 cm long
The other one was deflated.

26 October 2000Portuguese Man-o'-War, Physalia
physalis,
were discovered washed up on the Sussex coast
at Brighton. This has happened before, but not in the last 20 years. About
50 were discovered, but there were likely to be more.

circa 9 October 2000A Portland fisherman, Derek Galpin, discovered
Portuguese Men O' War washed up on Chesil Beach, Dorset. I went along
to have a look and found about half a dozen in Chesil cove. Derek
said he hasn't seen them since 1967 - I certainly haven't seen them here
before
Peter TinsleyMarine Awareness Officer
Dorset Wildlife Trust
By 24 October 2000, 140 Portuguese Men
O' War were discovered on Dorset shores.

9 October 2000We have had prevailing north-westerly winds, which have brought in
lots of Portuguese Man-of-war. I found 8 yesterday (Sunday) on Guernsey's
west coast Cobo and Saline beaches. Tony Bougourd who found 3 on Perelle
Beach on October 6 found another one yesterday.
He spoke to a fisherman who said there were 'hundreds stranded on an off-shore
spit' outside Perelle. Cuttlefish bones
have also started washing up on west coast beaches in large numbers.
This is normal for this time of year. The cuttlefish migrate from the Normandy
bays and move North-West into deeper Channel water.

circa 9 October 2000Portuguese Man O'War have been found at Swanpool
and Maenporth near Falmouth, Watergate Bay and Mawganporth near Newquay,
Marazion and Prussia Cove, all Cornish coasts, over a wide area from both
the southern and northern coasts.

6 October 2000Tony Bougourd found 3 Portuguese Man-of-War washed on Guernsey's West
Coast Perelle beach, the same week as they were found in 1999. Richard
Lord (Guernsey)

2 October 1999A Portuguese Man o'War, Physalia
physalis, was washed up on Porthcothan Beach (SW 8572), Cornwall.
This colonial hydrozoan (jellyfish-like invertebrate animal) has
a float bladder that was fully inflated and 22 cm in length. There were
quite a thick bunch of stinging tentacles still attached, to a length of
about 15 cm. It was washed in with the incoming tide after a period of
strong winds. It was washed in with the incoming tide after a period of
strong south-westerly winds.

As expected, several more Portuguese Men o'War were discovered, five
on Porthcothan, two on Watergate Bay and a friend found five on Gwithian
(Hayle) beaches, over the weekend. Some specimens were alive and have been
placed in an aquarium for further study.

By Sunday night the tally had increased to 22 from Hayle up to
Trevose Head. The tentacles on the biggest were well over a
metre long, possibly twice that length (had they been given the chance
to extend fully).

Report by Nick Darke (Cornwall)

Portuguese Men o'War were reported over a large area of southern
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly . Over 100 specimens have been reported
and there were probably many more stranded in inaccessible coves.

9 January 2005A post storm check of Thurlestone (south Devon)
beach for stranded cetaceans or oiled birds revealed my first ever UK sittings
of by the Jack-by-the-Wind-Sailors, Velella velella, several
hundred, some as just the chitinous float and sail.. I have never noticed
them before in Britain but I saw millions on beaches in SW Corsica last
May. No sign of the predatory Violet Sea
Snails, Janthina sp., often associated
with this creature.

18-25 September
2004The massive stranding of By-the-wind
Sailors,
Velella
velella, has now been established
that it has stretched much further than just the Cornish coast and that
the numbers were in billions. Reports of large numbers of large specimens
and huge numbers occurred all along the Welsh coast as far north as Anglesey
and almost certainly further north as well.

First
strandings on Velella on the sandy beach at Polzeath, CornwallPhotograph
by Jonathan Smith

First
strandings on Velella
on the sandy beach at Polzeath, CornwallPhotograph
by Jonathan Smith

Some Reports:

24 September 2004Thousands of Velella
were washed up at Woolacombe, north Devon in unprecedented numbers, estimated
up to 200 a square metre!

16 September 2004Velella
were
found on the shore between Newquay in Wales and Aberaeron with a
length of 60 mm +. There was one every three metres or so around the rocks
at Cei Bach thinning out in the sand areas. All were strikingly large compared
to those I have found before in south Wales and Cornwall before. All had
soft tissue and colour but were dead and disintegrating.

Early September 2004We found large amounts of Velella
velella out off the Pembrokeshire coast
back at the start of Septernber and the ensuing storms seem to have deposited
many of them on our beaches in the west of Pembrokeshire (at least). Their
small size make them easy to overlook at sea and also on dark sand but
they are exquisite jewel like creatures.

Velella
on Constantine Bay beach, north CornwallPhotograph
by Amanda
Bertuchi

A huge mass
stranding
of By-the-wind Sailors,Velella
velella, occurred all along the north Cornish coast from Sennen
Cove (near land's End) up to Polzeath (near Padstow) and beyond. (As
the gull flies this is a distance of 25+ miles and with all the coves and
inlets the shoreline is over double this.) Coming in on the top of the
tide, there were hundreds of millions* of them, all large, the largest
I found was 85 mm, and all them were intact. Millions of Barnacles
were washed up along the strandline.

(* Numbers not calculated. At Gwithian they formed
a band 10 metres wide on the shore and stretching for over a mile. The
above photograph understates the extent of the stranding.)

The
Buoy Barnacles,
Lepas
fascicularis,started coming in on the same tide as the Velella.
I've seen with my own eyes on Porthcothan (SW
8572), Treyarnon and Constantine and Paul
Gainey saw them on Gwithian, all in north
Cornwall. I'd be very surprised if they weren't all the way up the coast
and I'd number them in millions, all big. The Goose
Barnacles,
Lepas,are occurring
in their usual quantity for this time of the year, if anything, less. To
give you an idea, on my beach, Pothcothan, 25 acres at low tide:
Velella
approximately one million, Buoy Barnacles:
2000+, Goose Barnacle
colonies: 7.At least one Portuguese Man o'War,
Physalia physalis, was also washed up and there were undoubtably more.

6 June 2003Millions (literally) of By-the-Wind
Sailors,
Velella
velella, (a jellyfish-like animal) are being washed up alive to
perish on the shores of Cornwall, now reaching up the English Channel as
far east as Polperro and Looe. All are
a similar very small size, around 15 mm in length, and still have fleshy
body parts attached.

4 June 2003We have got loads of By-the-Wind
Sailors,
Velella
velella, in the Fowey estuary, Cornwall, as far up as Wisemans
reach. They are coming in by the bucket load. Lots were stranded on Readymoney
beach and there were lots washing in the night. I haven't seen any Violet
Sea Snails, but am going out on the water
this morning so shall look out.

4 June 2003I was on Charmouth beach in Dorset doing a little
fossil hunting and suddenly found myself lying (best way to find tiny crinoids
etc) in a wreck of tiny jellyfish. They had a bizarre transparent float
and were a vivid blue being only around 25 to 30 mm long. These are By-the-Wind
Sailors,
Velella
velella.

28 May 2003David Muirhead sailed through a large
fleet of By-the-Wind Sailors,
Velella
velella, on the SE side of Fal Bay. He said they were being
tossed around and he wondered if they could capsize.
Michael Ennis reported a number at Nansudwell,
Cornwall.

24 May 2003Polurrian
Beach, Mullion, Cornwall: I found hundreds of By-the-Wind
Sailors,
Velella velella, on the
falling tide on Saturday and by the smell/remains they have been coming
ashore for several days.

Thousands of tiny By-the-Wind
Sailors,
Velella velella, are coming
ashore on the Isles of Scilly . Porthlow on St. Mary's (Porthloo on maps)
was covered with them, most only about 10 mm in length with only the occasional
larger one, and the larger ones were very large at approx. 50 mm, with
none in-between. I don't think I have seen them either as big or as small
before.

28
January 2003Thousands of By-the-Wind
Sailor, Velella velella, are discovered
washed up, alive or very freshly dead, on Perranporth Beach, Cornwall,
together with the Violet
Snail, Janthina janthina,(two
shells) that preys on Velella. This gastropod
is rarely recorded in British seas even when there are large numbers of
Velella
stranded. It is always worth looking for this attractive and fragile shell.

Rory Goodall has
also found large numbers of Velella, on Porthmeor Beach, St Ives,
Cornwall.

15 November 2002After the recent
gales, further large numbers of freshly dead Velella
are washed up on the Dorset (Studland) coast with over 50 counted in a
stretch of strandline of 100 metres. The dead Velella were still
coloured blue which showed that that they have only recently died. They
disintegrate and turn white over night. There were live specimens at five
miles off the Dorset coast.

27 May 2002"Millions" of Velella
velella, the By-the Wind Sailor
were
discovered by Nick Darke on
Porthcothan Beach, Cornwall. They are freshly dead, the float having the
animals or at least fragments of the soft tissue, still present. They are
probably all along the north coast, especially at Perranporth, so I will
be interested to have an idea of the maximum density per sq. metre. The
last really big incursion was in June/July
1981 whenRennie
Bere counted 150 to 200 per sq. metre, as
they came in on the tide (i.e. not heaped up in catchment areas) and he
estimated 100,000 for the stretch of shore at Bude.

June 2002We fished out a specimen of Velella
earlier from the middle of Kimmeridge Bay earlier in the week and dropped
it in a small pot of seawater. The pot was quickly filled with lots
of small dots which turned out to be medusae, most of which were not fully
formed, though a small number were pulsing weakly.

By 8 June 2002 the
swathes (thousands) of Velella looked like a 300 metres band of
oil washed up on the shore at Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire, SW Wales,
from below the car park to Little Furzenip. There was a distinct smell
of rotting sea life.

By 15 June 2002
millions of Velella had been washed up on the sandy beach of Porth
Ty'n Twyn, on the south-west coast of Anglesey (Ynys Môn) between
the small towns of Aberffraw and Rhosneigr. The Velella formed five
separate strandlines and the stink of the decaying animals was horrendous.

Also by 10 June 2002,
Graham
Mercer and the Harbourmaster at Portpatrick, reported
thousands of Velella from the inner and harbour at Portpatrick,
Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. This is the most northerly record of
the current strandings and they were not known to the local fishermen.On 15-16 June 2002,
smaller numbers of Velella were washed up here on the Isle of Cumbrae.
This appears to be the first record in the Firth of Clyde (which has been
fairly well studied since the 1880s at least!).

13
June 2002 found thousands of Velella
were washing in on Kilmory Bay, Sound of Jura, Argyll, Scotland. There
was a lot of foam along the tideline at the time and they were quite fresh.
This is a south-west facing bay inshore of Islay and Jura in the western
islands and the furthest north record for 2002.

9 June 2002Large numbers of dead Velella along strandline
of sandy beach at Kilmore Quay (SE Ireland). Estimated to be in excess
of 300 Velella per metre of strandline for about 50 metres (= 15000).
They were a bit dried out so must have been there for a few days.

15 November 2002After the recent gales, further large numbers
of freshly dead Velella are washed up on the Dorset (Studland)
coast with over 50 counted in a stretch of strandline of 100 metres. The
dead
Velella were still coloured blue which showed that that they
only recently dead. They disintegrate and turn white over night. There
were live specimens at five miles off the Dorset coast.

7 December 2001Hundreds of By-the-wind
SailorsVelella velella, are washed
up at Prisk Beach (or Prisk Cove) on the rock and shingle shore at the
northern mouth of the Helford River,
south Cornwall. They were about 5 cm across and despite their large
numbers could easily be overlooked. Some sand had also been deposited on
the pebbled beach and this is how they were noticed because they stood
out from the sand. Some of them had turned white in colour. Is this from
decay?

Report by Michael Ennis

In my experience, in south Cornwall, when stranded
they tend to do it en masse, with hundreds being normal. Live or recently
dead colonies are a striking blue/violet colour. Shortly after death they
turn white, and after two to three days all that is normally left are the
tough sails, which can remain for some weeks, although often overlooked
due to (presumably) being small, transparent, and looking like packaging
material. Were any Janthinagastropods
noted amongst these strandings?

6 December 2001Report from Mr David Leggat.Cadgwith Cove, the Lizard, Cornwall. Large
(hundreds probably) numbers of the hydrozoans, By-the-wind Sailors Velella
velella, between 2 and 7 cm in diameter washed up on this east facing
shore.

October 1999Tens of thousands By-the-Wind
Sailor, Velella velella, were discovered by Paul
Gainey,washed
up on the between Gwithian and Mexico Beach beaches on the north coast
of Cornwall. They were also reported at Sennen Cove (near Land's End) by
Jayne Herbert. InDecember
1999, hundreds
were reported by Chris Stumbles on a Cornish shore.

9 October 1999High up on Saline Beach near the slipway I found
a By-the-wind sailor, Velella velella, in good condition.
The pelagic colonial hydroid had most of its tentacles and was a vivid
blue colour. Richard
Lord (Guernsey).

Underside
of VelellaPhotograph
by Richard Lord

January 1998Jon Makeham also discovered
about 500 washed up Velella at Looe, southern Cornwall. This
is a lesser number than in previous years.

There
are more records of stranded Velella in the BMLSS archives (before
1996 when computer records were collated for the web site entries). Notably,
mass strandings in 1992, reported by Amanda Young (Anglesey).

June
2015Thousands
of jellyfish have been reported off the south-western
and western coasts off Britain, notable off Dorset and Wales. By far the
most noticeable have been the large Barrel
Jellyfish, Rhizostoma octopus
but also the huge stinging Lion's Mane
Jellyfish,
Cyanea capillata.

This
animal washed up on the Sussex coast proved to be a mystery that was not
solved immediately, perhaps due to failure to apply lateral thinking as
the creature was washed up in larger than normal numbers around the British
coast in 2014.
Everybody quickly surmised it was a jellyfish-type animal, but which one?
Credit to be first to identify it as part of one of the eight oral arms
of the Barrel Jellyfish, Rhizostoma
octopus, came from the Big
Jellyfish Hunt.

18
June 2014One
of the more interesting characterisitics of this very wet spring were the
numerous reports of very large jellyfish washed
up on the southern and western shores of Britain. Almost all of them were
the non-venomous Barrel Jellyfish, Rhizostoma
octopus. Reports were recieved from all south-western coasts and
many of them were seen in the sea and washed up on the shore of Dorset.

Barrel
JellyfishPhotograph
by Andreas Frangou

This
blue speciman was a typical sized specimen as others were reported the
size of dustbin lids. This was washed up at the Witterings,
West Sussex. The most usual colour of this jellyfish is a creamy wide umbrella
with trailing tentacles of cream and sometimes brownish-red.

21 November
2010An
unprecedented stranding of over a hundred jellyfish
Rhizostoma
octopus were discovered on the beach at Formby, Liverpool.
"The
jellyfish were literally uncountable - we walked about a mile along the
beach and they stretched the whole way and out of sight. They were all
more than 60 cm in diameter. The previous high tide
was accompanied by a moderate wind but nothing exceptional, and was not
particularly high."Two
days later, almost all the jellyfish had disappeared with just a few seen
stranded on the shore.

I found this jellyfish Rhizostoma octopus
about
200 metres up from river mouth of River
Dysynni, about two miles north of Tywyn
on mid Wales coast.
It was about 70-80 cm across, it looked like it was dead and was floating
close to the river's edge.

8-9 August 2003Whilst travelling out from Littlehampton marina,
West Sussex, on Friday night, we passed four very large Rhizostoma
octopusand counted 21 Compass Jellyfish,
Chrysaora
hysoscella, over a period of an hour.On Saturday morning we went armed with cameras.
Within 20 minutes we had found three Rhizostomas. The last two were
close enough to see the juvenile fish swimming alongside. We dived with
the third Rhizostoma for about 30 minutes. It stayed within the
top 3 metres of water. We saw a third as we headed back to the marina on
a different heading.Link
to the Image by Paul Parsons (Aquapix)We also spotted eight Compass
Jellyfish.

6 August 2003Doing a few boat transects today we saw absolutely
loads of the jellyfish, Rhizostoma
octopus off the Rhossilhi/Llangennith beach, Gower, south
Wales and further into Carmarthen Bay. I'm not even going to attempt a
number, but unless they were all stretched out in lines which corresponded
exactly with our transects there must have been tens of thousands.

3 August 2003I saw a huge Barrel
Jellyfish swimming in water 100 metres
out from Seven Sisters Cliffs (East Sussex). I was fishing for Sea
Bass with rod and line on my boat and estimate it to be at least 15
inches in diameter. It was amazing with a purple fringe along the skirt
edge. it seemed quite happy bobbing along.

14 June 2003A jellyfish with a bell diameter of 45 cm and
one metre long was spotted in calm seas off Shoreham-by-Sea,
Sussex, at 7:00 pm.
It was creamy white with a pink-blue rim so it was almost certainly the
Barrel
Jellyfish, Rhizostoma
octopus. These large jellyfish are
only occasionally encountered off the Sussex coast.

10 April 2003Nick and Jane Darke
report a freshly dead Root-mouth Jellyfish on the strandline at Porthcothan,
Cornwall. It has been suggested that large specimens - and this one
was two feet in diameter - are ones that have survived our winter. Records
will all be entered on the Strandings Database, as they were last year
when there were a large number. There have been half a dozen April records
over the past 100 years or so.

11 January 2003A
large jellyfish weighing an estimated 15 kg was washed up at Lepe Country
Park on the Solent coast in Hampshire (SZ
459 985). The excellent photograph of the
underside confirmed this as the first reported specimen of Rhizostoma
octopusfor 2003.

28 August 2002Helen Selvey of Polzeath Voluntary Marine Wildlife
Area, has found those small 'green-eyed monsters'
for which Paul Gainey
has been seeking as he would like to photograph them. When she placed a
large freshly-dead Root-mouth Jellyfish,
Rhizostoma
octopus in a vessel of seawater, from under it swam a few dozen
specimens of a small 12 mm amphipod crustacean
called Hyperia
galba. They are always associated
with one or other of the species of jellyfish,
living under the shelter of the umbrella (often within the gonad cavities)
where they are sought by some species of fish. There
are only three records on the species database for Cornwall, the latest
being 1928 with a 'Plymouth area' record for 1953. Of course not
many people would look for them, but the influx of jellyfish represents
a good opportunity - so
please 'phone me on01209
712069if
you find any and can keep them alive in a container in a cool place.

28 August 2002From the Palace Pier, Brighton, we saw two jellyfish
moving very slowly. They were very large we estimated them to be about
130 cm (4-5 feet) in a diameter, a large white dome, medusa with a dark
rim, with strange white panel type of things below and then short pale
blue tentacles. This is the species Rhizostoma
octopus.NB. this size may be overestimated.

On 26 August
2002
a species of this jellyfish was seen
at a depth of 6 metres over 15 metres of water at the Waldrons, off Littlehampton,
Sussex.BMLSS Jellyfish

August
2002We found four of these big blue jellyfish, Rhizostoma
octopus, in August washed up on the shoreline of the
River Teign between Newton Abbot and Teignmouth in Devon. My husband has
size 9 feet, so you can tell they were pretty big!

4 August 2002We found four large stranded jellyfish on the beach at Marazion,
Cornwall. Perhaps this is common, but we were very impressed by their purple
colour, size and density; we think they were about 60-80 cm diameter. The
photograph showed a white jellyfish which was Rhizostoma
octopus.

27 July 2002I saw several (at least 4) 'Root-mouth' Jellyfish,
Rhizostoma
octopus, in the vicinity of August Rock buoy near the entrance to the
Helford, Cornwall, in the morning. All seemed to be swimming strongly in
the direction of Maenporth. Some were on the surface and then sunk as I
approached and were swimming some just over 3 metres (10 feet) below the
surface.

19 July 200242 Rhizostoma
octopus, carefully counted, were on the shore at Polkerris
near Par, Cornwall, with 50 in the shallows. About the same time
30 were on Par Beach.These were
the top numbers beached, but elsewhere they were in up to ten on many Cornish
shores. Offshore they were in large shoals but of course
less easy to count.But more that
one person said they are present this year 'in hundreds if not thousands'.

7-9 May 2002Whilst on
Colin Speedie's Basking Shark survey last week
we were almost continually among the jellyfish Rhizostoma
octopus (from Lands End to Fowey, Cornwall), some areas had
particularly dense aggregations of them.

5-7 May 2002There have been reports of jellyfishes
from the Cornish and Devon coasts, including Rhizostoma
octopus at 50 cm diameter with a purple rim to the bell stranded
near the swimming pool at Devil's Point (Western Kings) on the Plymouth
foreshore on 7 May. Richard
White (of Devon Wildlife Trust) saw lots of
Rhizostoma
at Church Cove on the Lizard, Cornwall, on 5
May.A report arrived via Brixham Coastguard from
a member of the public; that a large jellyfish (one metre across) had been
found in the Imperial Recreation Ground in Exmouth, Devon, on
6 May 2002.

c. 26 December 2001Isles of ScillyRen Hathway says that Scillonian
fisherman, David Thompson, has been trawling
up large numbers of the 'Root-mouth' JellyfishRhizostoma
octopus, measuring up to a metre across.

30 May 1999Isle of SkyeI saw area of approx.' 75 sq. metres (800 sq. ft.) with Moon Jellyfish
at approx.' 6 per sq. metre in ever direction, on Sunday 30th. Saw one
Moon Jellyfish at least 18" across! never seen one that size before. Today
saw two large Rhizostoma's. Lying stranded on the shore line
a 60 cm (24") Lions Mane, all the other Lions Manes we are seeing are no
more than 4" to 5" across.

Spring 1999Isle of ManWe had large numbers of Aurelia around
during the end of May into June but nothing excessive for the time of year.

There were also large numbers of Rhizostoma
about in May. On the 14 May 1999
I recorded over thirty in the course of a forty minute dive. Unusually
they were distributed throughout the water column; depth of seabed was
26 metres. Most years at around this time we expect to see half a
dozen or so each dive but confined to the top 10 metres. Now, of
course, they are dying off with the remains littering the seabed and forming
a food source for a wide variety of species. We find them with urchins,
Echinus
esculentus, feeding on them along with the Common Starfish,
Asterias
rubens, and a variety of gastropods.

9 June 1999Six Barrel Jellyfish, Rhizostoma octopus,
were washed up on the sandy beach at Ravenglass, Cumbria, in the north-west
of England. The definitive dark blue ring around the base of the bell was
present but did not show up on the photograph. This jellyfish does not
have stinging tentacles like the similar looking Cyanea species,
which are sometimes washed up on the same coast.

October 1995In 1995 I went fishing in October and remember
seeing large numbers of Rhizostoma pulmo drifting past the
boat.

On 6 July 1999,
I came across a Marthasterias wrapped around the remains of one
(Rhizostoma) One unusual record was of a group of Metridium
on an underwater cliff face that appeared to have captured an Aurelia,
possibly a dying one that had drifted onto them. The grip by the
Metridium
colony was firm enough to hold it against water being wafted across it
by a diver's hand. Presumably individuals were feeding but I cannot
be sure of that.

8 July 1999A swimmer was reported stung by a jellyfish off
Ryde on the north-east of the Isle of Wight. The species was not identified.
(Colin Pope, IOW Council.)The only published proven effective first aid
treatment for the skin pain of jellyfish wounds is the use of cold packs
or ice. Cold is applied to the stung area for 5-15 minutes then re-applied,
if necessary. It will stop the skin pain in 98% of cases

Peter Glanvill reports
the first specimen of the Compass Jellyfish, Chrysaora
hysoscella, (pic)from
Seaton, Dorset at the beginning of July 1999.
This jellyfish occurs regularly in the English Channel during the summer,
but never in the huge numbers of the Moon Jellyfish. The Compass Jellyfish
is reputed to have a powerful sting, but I have been unable to verify this
with someone who has actually been stung. Sometimes this jellyfish will
sting, and sometimes no sting will be felt.

Thousands of Moon Jellyfish reported from the
Pembokeshire coast of south Wales by Will
Thomas. "Also seen at least 5 jellyfish
that are shaped like an oblong bell, about 100 mm (3-4 inches) in length
and an electrical green glow passing up and down the centre, I have had
no luck in looking up the species so far."It seems like a comb jelly (Ctenophora). AH.Ctenophoreshttp://faculty.washington.edu/cemills/Ctenophores.html

29 June 2008We were swimming with many jellyfish at Botany
Bay, Thanet, Kent in the evening. In the end we got out of the water as
I got stung (didn’t hurt much and left a light rash). We saw about 9 swimming
in a very small space but I am sure there were more out there. They were
in a range of sizes, the biggest we saw was about 6 – 8 inches across,
with very long tendrils and lacy purple markings under the ‘frilly’ bell.
It was very beautiful actually, pulsating away through the water. The smaller
ones were pinky apricot in colour, with no purple. I have looked them up
on the net and think they were Lion's Mane
Jellyfish.They must be flourishing in these Thanet waters
because I have found several stranded on the beaches too recently (‘rescued’
one at Westbrook last week).

24 June 2007I have spotted whilst loads of jellyfish, Lion's
Mane Jellyfish and Moon Jellyfish whilst
I
was walking on the beach in Pettycur
Bay between Burntisland and Kinghorn in the Firth of Forth Scotland.

August 2002I'm fairly sure I found a Lion's
Mane Jellyfish washed up on the beach
adjacent to Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland in August 2002.
I didn't photograph it but it was similar to the specimen which you display.
It was dark red and seemed to be seeping blood. In fact, it looked
like the internal organ of some creature and it was only when I turned
it over that I was convinced it was a jelly fish.

25 July 1999Lion's Mane Jellyfish,
Cyanea
capillata.I live in the North East of England and have
seen jellyfish of various sizes, between the north and south piers at
Roker, Sunderland, the majority are purple in colour, the one that came
across this morning was roughly the size of a dustbin lid. Is this common
as I've never seen one this size before?ThanksWayne
Curtis EMail: jan@canisway.freeserve.co.ukI think it is probably the venomous species Cyanea
lamarckii. However, it is just possible that it is the species the
Lion's Mane Jellyfish, Cyanea capillata. AH. The sting is reckoned to be less painful
than a wasp sting. The wound is best washed in fresh water. Some people
are allergic to the stings. AH (from
Emails from Tyneside and Norway)"The purple jellyfish are mainly between the
north and south piers at Roker Sunderland, in the wash quite close to shore.
We have a lot of the white ones but they all seem to be along the pier
wall for some reason. The dustbin lid size jellyfish at Roker was in the
same place very early morning it was washed up on the sand it looks like
the one in the pic Velella. There have been no warnings of stinging
jellyfish but my wife has informed me that we did have a warning last summer
about the Lion's Tail variety. The colour in a way I can describe the bigger
the are the stronger the colour, the dustbin lid size was a reallydark colour and about 12 - 15 cm (5-6 inches)
thick. Nobody was on the beach at the time. We've also get a few large
dark red one. Are these related? These are normally further out in the
bay and not as many. The small white and small purple ones are quite common
but it was just the pure size of the large purple one which had me interested."

Lion's
Mane Jellyfish

"The winds have been north-westerly and then north-easterly
preceding the jellyfish strandings."Photographs & Report by Wayne Curtis
(Sunderland)News
Report of Lion's Mane Jellyfish In early July 1995 a giant jellyfish was found washed up on
the shore outside the Museum of Galloway Life in Gatehouse of Fleet (SW
Scotland). It was discovered by Neil Barclay and weighed 9 kg (20 lb).
It measured 61 cm (24 in) in diameter. The species was not identified in
the report, but it was probably the Lion's Mane Jellyfish, Cyanea
capillata. This species is dangerous with numerous stinging cells that
can be painful to humans.
Moon Jellyfish, Aurelia aurita, recorded
in
Shoreham Harbour, Sussex (1995) and
every subsequent year.

It is possible that the Lion's Mane Jellyfish, Cyanea capillata,
have been recorded in large swarms of the Sussex coast in the past. The
jellyfish were described as purple with long stinging tentacles, so they
could have been the Portuguese Man-o-War, Physalia physalis. Lion's
Mane are frequently described as purple in colour. (Brian)

Hi,

I was stung by a Lions Mane jellyfish today while
diving in Babbacombe, Devon in the summer of 2001. I was about
150 metres from shore at about 11:00 am. Depth, around 7 metres.

I looked up, saw tentacles in front of my face.
Momentum carried me right into them. Hurt like nettles or a wasp
sting. We treated it with malt vinegar (not
recommended) and antihistamine cream.
Pain subsided about 1 hour later. No marks remaining (12 hours later).

4 August 2002Quite a few largish Compass
Jellyfish, Chrysaora hysoscella, around
just now (15 cm diameter) seen close to my local pier (West Loch Roag)
- I saw six actively swimming ones in an area about 100 metres square.

More interesting is the reported death and destruction
wrought on Salmon farms on the east coast of Lewis by small jellyfish clogging
the salmon gills. A fish farmer claims its a foreign species introduced
by ballast water, but I need to try and confirm this. Apparently they are
'solid down to 15 metres' so there must be a lot of them; allegedly the
mortality is so great that local facilities for disposal are overwhelmed
and they have to take them to Shetland for disposal!

Diver's are rarely stung by jellyfish in British
seas because there is hardly any skin exposed: the
water is too cold.

I've
been stung a couple of times by Physalia (Portuguese Man
o'War) in the Azores. On one occasion I was swimming round a fishing
buoy where a detached tentacle was stuck, so the jellyfish itself was not
to be seen. It felt like a wasp sting but had no lasting effects. A small
rash appeared on my arm which lasted for a fortnight.I was stung whilst diving off the Summer Isles
(W Scotland) across the upper lip by a tentacle several feet in length
belonging toLion's Mane Jellyfish well above me in
the water, or so I thought! That too felt like a wasp sting or being thrown
into a bed of nettles. Alarming at the time (40 ft deep) but no lasting
effects.Bill Farnham (Univ. of Portsmouth) (received
September 1999)

4 August 2008I discovered a Portuguese Man-o'-War,
Physalia physalis, on Southsea
seafront, Portsmouth, to the east of the pier. The sting
on the palm of my hand was mild but persistent and still felt ten days
afterwards.

Dear Andy,I got a dollop of Lion's Mane in my eye once,
pulling a fishing net over the side of a boat. Within about 12 hours I
had an abscess that required antibiotics to clear. In general the stings
I have received on hands arms and face feel more like an acid burn and
don't leave a wound.Regards from Nigel
Smith (Sea Probe)
September 1999

A swimmer was reported stung by a jellyfish off
Ryde on the north-east of the Isle of Wight. The species was not identified.
(Colin Pope, IOW Council 1999)PS: I have received one report from Wales
of a child developing a rash after being stung by a small transparent jellyfish.
AH.(see the note below, click on
this text).

A swimmer was stung whilst swimming off Norfolk,
(North Sea) and received medical treatment. The arm swelled up and felt
stiff.Report by Jane Fowler-Tutt.

A bright red weal depending on the length of the
tentacle or fragment. I've been stung by strands from a Portuguese Man
o'War,
Physalia. All the marks were vivid & bright red, but
not necessarily raised. But all very sore.Philip Vas

A detached tentacle of Cyanea sp. (both
C.
capillata & C. lamarckii were present) caught me across
the cheek and upper lip when I was diving in NW Scotland. It prickled like
a really bad nettle sting, painfully for about 24 hours.Jane Lilley (Newdigate) (received September 1999)

Although the Canaries are not NE Atlantic we do
have a lot of cases of Jellyfish and Anemone stings. The wound of a jellyfish
tends to be very similar to the wound of stinging nettles. However the
Jellyfish sting tends to be more linear as opposed to the small white dotted
sting of the nettles.The immediate surrounding skin surface also tends
to swell gently and is slightly enflamed. The treatment is relatively simple
as it involves rinsing the sting in fresh water and then gently but liberally
dousing the sting with an anti inflammatory product which can generally
be found in most supermarkets or chemists.Mark Thorpe.

I have just returned from Brittany and found your
request which had been passed on via NERC. There is some information
on Jellyfish stings in: The Medusae of the British Isles , by F.S. Russell.
Published in two volumes by CUP in 1953 and 1970. Some details are
given under each species which is known to sting and there are quite a
lot of references to stings and their effects - F.S. Russell was
actually stung by a Lion's Mane on the Great Barrier Reef. The people
that I have seen stung in British waters have a long trail of what looks
like a very severe nettle rash.
I hope this is of some help.
Yours sincerely,
Gerald T. Boalch

Although it is more an anecdotal story, I recently
made an interesting experience in the variability of the individual response
to jellyfish stings.While swimming in the Mediterranean, my daughter
(7) and I (41) were simultaneously stung by the same individual of Pelagia
noctiluca. The surface of the burns was comparable (legs and arms)
and the initial reaction was identical: pain, blistering (urticae), swellings
etc. We treated the sting with an antihistaminic (Fenistil jelly). My daughter's
burns were completely gone after 2 hours and did not re-appear. However,
my stings persisted for nearly 10 days, itched incredibly, and the tissuebecame necrotic in the end (lost skin). The surrounding
tissue was swollen and hot for several days.It was the first sting my daughter experienced,
while I have been stung quite often by Cnidarians (Pelagia, Millepora,
Aglaophenia, Physalia, Pennaria (it stings!), partly accidentally,
partly experimental). So I concluded that most likely also previous exposure
can determine the reaction to cnidarian stings.

Museum of Natural HistoryDept. of Invertebrates1, route de MalagnouCH-1208 GenevaSwitzerland

I've been stung by a Physalia (Portuguese
Man o'War) in the Mediterranean, one tentacle hit across the back,
and the wound looked and felt much like I guess a whiplash must, a neat
line, perhaps 3 mm wide, extending from my neck to the hem of my swimming
trunks.

Last week (June 2002) my daughter was in the sea
off the coast of Northern France at Berck-sur-mer, we think that she was
stung by a jelly-fish. There were 100's of 50 pence piece size clear 'jelly-fish'
left on the beach as the tide went out as well
as in the shallow water.Having been in the sea she appeared with two
weals across her shoulder and back around these the skin was very red and
angry looking, it was hot and sore to touch. She also had slight blistering
spotting across her back around the mark. After about a week the patch
of skin eventually blistered up and then peeled, the two weals being the
last to heal as the wound seemed to have gone deeper here. Ten days later
her skin still looks very raw and has darker patches across the wound.My daughter is 9, she was playing in water that
was at the maximum about 2 feet deep, it was a sandy beach with no rockpools
etc.,
we didn't see any other sea creatures such as anemones.
The beach is in a fairly big tourist resort and was full of people however
very few were in the sea - it was early evening when we were there.We didn't realise Molly had been stung - it didn't
hurt at the time but was only sore afterwards.The jelly-fish were translucent whitish with
slightly dark segment marks.

This injury could have been caused by the Snakelocks
Anemone (from rocky shores and shallow seas).

9 November 2003Recently spotted a Lion's mane in Key Largo Florida. Bell was
approx 2 ft in diameter and tentacles were at least 25 - 30 ft long..
It stung a number of divers. don't know if you're collecting this
info or if its helpful, just found your email on a link while researching
what we had found. don't hesitate to contact me if you have a need
for more questions.

Thanks for the reply. We holidayed in Greece
last June (2005) and my youngest daughter (6) had a bad sting. She had
a very mild one with tentacle lines that faded in a day the first week
of our holiday. However int he second week she was playing in the shallows
- the first part of which is all rocky. She was pulling herself along through
the rocks on all fours. She came running up the beach screaming and the
'tentacle' lines where immediatly visible on her leg. I had antihistamine
tablets on me and immediatly gave her one and we took her to first aid
where they applied a general sting lotion/jelly. The lines had immediatly
turned a dark purple on her leg. Over the next few days they became raised
very sore and split open. We had to see a doctor as the area became red/hot
and inflamed and was obviously infected. She was given antibiotic cream
which didn't have much effect. On our return to Engaland we took
her to the doctor who gave her oral antibiotics. By the time the main wound
was raw, open and all the wounds looked like she'd been slashed with a
knife. The main wound was about 4-5mm deep open flesh. The doctor described
it as looking like a chemical burn.

It still didn't heal that well and she
had to go on a second course of stronger antibiotics and eventually it
healed - over the next couple of months.

Shes been left with a largish purplish
scar where the deepest wound was - about 2 cm in length - and faint white
scars where the other lines/tentacles were.

The odd thing was that we never saw any
jellyfish at all - and neither did anyone else there - including staff.
The rocky area is under water, about 2ft wide and you walk over it as you
walk out to sea - its then all sand - this is covered in lots of coral
looking 'stuff'!

We're returing to the same place this year
- at the same time!! - and I'm just curious as to what it was. Could it
have been anything other than a jellyfish (urchin perhaps) - we didn't
see any of these either but it was the wavy tentacle lines on her that
made us think it was a jellyfish. There was nothing in the wound when she
came out of the sea.

Ten
thousands of small (about 20 mm diameter) Mauve
Stingers, Pelagia
noctilucawere washed ashore on Cornish
beaches, notably at Perranporth
and Porthtowan
and other locations on the exposed north coast. This
small jellyfish has a reputation a a stinger.

I
had an unfortunate encounter with Pelagia at the Azores a
couple of yearsago, while swimming.
Although I only slightly came in contact with thetentacles
of the jellyfish (on my chest), the sting was VERY painful. It could
be
described as a whiplash (although I cannot say that I have been whiplashed
before...). At the beginning of May, some beaches in the southof
France had been closed for swimming for a short while, because of thepresence of this jellyfish (probably often the
case in the Mediterranean).Jan Haelters

June 2003I only experienced a very mild irritation from
the Pelagia when hauling in the umbilical on the drop-down vid.
But nothing really painful. (Lundy)Ian
Reach (Maritime Protected Areas Officer, English
Nature)

The sting from Pelagia can be terrible.
My daughter (aged 6 at the time) was stung on her thigh in Yugoslavia.
She was in agony for a couple of hours and had a scar on her leg which
you could still see after 10 years. I know of a similar case with a young
child which resulted in lasting scars.I have seen Pelagia many times in the
Med. where it is not uncommon to close beaches because of their presence.
Also have seen them in good numbers off W. Ireland. I have put a picture
in the (appropriate?) album.Jim
Greenfield

Treatment
of Stings (Warning there is no consensus on the best treament)

First
Aid For The Treatment OfJellyfish
Stings

The only published proven effective first aid
treatment for the skin pain of jellyfish wounds is the use of cold packs
or ice. Cold is applied to the stung area for 5-15 minutes then re-applied,
if necessary. It will stop the skin pain in 98% of cases.

Dr Peter Fenner

I was interested in Andy Horton's reports on the
incidence of jellyfish in the UK. I would like to see more such reports
from worldwide. However, I would like to add additional comments on Andy's
suggested treatment of jellyfish stings.

"The most useful preparation for a jellyfish sting
is hydrocortisone cream"

Although this may be of benefit in a delayed allergy
to jellyfish venom, which occasionally occurs with cubozoans and very rarely
in other species, it has not yet been statistically proven to help the
toxic venom effect of a cnidarian sting. Delayed allergy to a jellyfish
stings usually occurs some 10-16 days after the initial sting and is usually
heralded by the re-appearance of the jellyfish tentacle marks which are
intensely itchy.However, cortisone based creams are weak and
often ineffective and ultra-potent steroid creams, or preferably oral prednisone
is much more effective (Williamson et al 1996). Hydrocortisone cream in
the early sting may also suppress the inflammatory response and allow infection,
which does not respond to "usual" antibiotics used for skin infections
(Williamson et al 1996), it has never been proven to give any benefit in
published journals on randomised or double blind treatment trials.

The only published proven effective first aid
treatment for the skin pain of jellyfish wounds is the use of cold packs
or ice. Cold is applied to the stung area for 5-15 minutes then re-applied,
if necessary. It will stop the skin pain in 98% of cases (Exton et al 198
). Heat makes the envneomation worse (Williamson et al 1996). Other plant
extracts and many other chemicalreagents have been suggested to stop the skin
pain but there are no double blinded or randomised trials to prove their
claims. Vinegar is only useful, but very effective, for preventing further
discharge and removing adherent tentacles after cubozoan stings (Williamson
et al 1996). It may make other stings worse (Fenner and Fitzpatrick 1986,
Fenner et al 1993) and shouldnot be used.

Other symptoms, including systemic symptoms are
dealt with in the usual manner by qualified medical practitioners.

I would be happy to answer other questions on
the treatment of jellyfishstings.

Vinegar totally
inhibits the firing mechanism for the nematocysts of every cubozoan
tested to date. Chirodropids usually have adherent tentacles that are torn
off and remain on the skin. The longer they remain on the skin, the greater
the envneomation as more nematocysts fire. Vinegar prevents this. However,
vinegar causes all (most?) of the nematocysts of Cyanea to discharge
and in some Physalia species (approx. 30% of the Pacific P. physalis)
- I subscribe to two species, P. utriculus, single tentacle and
common in Australia, and P. physalis, multi-tentacled, (medium size
in the Pacific, smaller than the Atlantic species that has caused 2 deaths).
I haven't tested other species but would be interested in the input of
others.>> Peter Fenner

All of the nematocyst venoms studied thus far
are mixtures of proteins.Hence, the superficial rationale for papain.
On the other hand, it is not apparent why papain should be efficacious,
since papain can neither penetrate the undischarged nematocyst capsule
to hydrolyse the venom contained within, nor can it get into the skin to
reach the venom injected from the discharged nematocysts. The best
that I can figure is that papain may (?) help to inactivate undischarged
nematocysts and cnidocytes still adhering to the skin, thereby helping
to prevent any sustained stinging subsequent the initial contact between
the skin and the tentacles. Anyone else have any ideas?
How about Joe Burnett?

Even the Blenny can draw blood and the Velvet
Swimming Crab can surprise the rockpooler with
the suddenness of the nip which does not prove to be dangerous. Any fish
with sharp teeth can cause an injury.

The toxicity of purified nematocysts preparations from Aurelia aurita,
Chrysaora hysoscella and Rhizostoma pulmo was studied in 25
volunteers by a scratch-patch test. Low amounts of dermatotoxicity was
demonstrated and this testing could be used as a measure to purify active
preparations from the venom.

Kokelj F. Contact dermatitis due to the Adriatic Sea jellyfish. Presented
to the 2nd Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology,
Athens, October, 1991.

Ten different species of Sciphomedusae are present in the Adriatic but
only four were found to be dermotoxic: Pelagia noctiluca, Aurelia aurita,
Rhizostoma pulmo and Chrysaora hysoscella

Pelagia noctiluca is an endemic Mediterranean jellyfish appearing
in abundance every 10 or 12 years. During these proliferations, when the
swarms of medusae come to the beach, envenomations increase significantly.
Generally, the stings produced minor cutaneous reactions such as erythematous
and pruriginous eruptions, but some lesions were more dramatic or envenomations
in the form of "burns." All these patients had a history of previous minor
stings by Pelagia. None of the patients had general symptoms when
stung. Post inflammatory pigmentation lasted several months but resolved
spontaneously.

Paul Cornelius of London has relayed to my Australian
friends that Aurelia around the UK is capable of inducing human
skin pain.

Faisal Radwan of Egypt, wrote that Aurelia aurita from the Red
Sea can sting human skin.

Number 3
July, 1990

Exton, DR, Fenner, PJ and Williamson, JA. Cold packs: effective topical
analgesia in the treatment of painful stings by Physalia and other
jellyfish. Med J Aust 151:625-626, 1989.
In this study cold packs taken from household freezers were applied
to the envenomated area for 5 to 10 minutes then reapplied for additional
similar periods if the pain had not subsided. One hundred and forty-three
patients were studied, 16 of whom had severe, 45 moderate and 82 mild pain.
Good results were achieved and the only significant failures were in the
severe pain group (25%). However, the severe pain from Chironex
envenomations were not effectively treated by this maneuver in two instances

We have reviewed the known lethalities from Physalia physalis
and have uncovered in newspaper clippings two more teenagers who died in
the 1970's. These, added to the three already described in medical journals,
brings the total to five.